Acid Reflux Disagreement

[Smowball]

I've had this for 12 years pretty badly. If I take my mess I'm ok but god he,o me if I miss one - the burning in my oesophageus is quite literally unbearable.
Now a friend rang me yesterday to say her hubby was going to the doctor as he had this pain on his left side all the time, and a bit of burning in his chest. Doctor later that day diagnosed acid reflux and prescribed Omeprazole . Now I've never heard of pain down left side so I spoke to her again and she says yes that's what he says, and even if they're watching tv and she leans on his left side it's uncomfortable. Has anybody heard of this symptom with acid reflux??

[Sqad]

Yes....the oesophagus pierces the diaphragm to the LEFT of the mid-line and this would explain any acid leakage causing left sided chest pain.

[Smowball]

Excuse poor spelling in post - blooming predictive txt!
Oh really Sqad? I've never heard of that! So would the pain be there all the time? I only associate acid reflux with burning , and not general pain.

[Sqad]

If and when the valve between stomach and gullet relaxed, then acid would regurgitate and commonly (not uncommonly) to the left of the mid-line.

[Smowball]

Well you learn something new every day. Thankyou Sqad.

[sunny-dave]

Sqad - a genuine question because I don't know - is this exacerbated by a hiatus hernia?

[Sqad]

Depends dave......if a hiatus hernia, just slips in and out of the diaphragm with no acid leakage, which often happens,then there is no pain (indigestion) as there is no leakage of acid.
However the hernia may get "stuck" and acid is regurgitated causing pain OR GERD.
It is the GERD which causes the pain and NOT the hiatus hernia.
Have I missed your point?

[sunny-dave]

No - that's very helpful Sqad - I wasn't making a point, just musing and realising I didn't quite understand what was going on.

[Purist]

Can a sliding Hiatus Hernia (the most common type) get stuck? I'm aware that there is another type of Hiatus hernia that does get stuck but having this type of hernia is rare?

[Sqad]

Purist.....by get "stuck" you mean strangulate, like a hernia in the groin?
One should never say never in medicine, but i have never heard of or seen a strangulated hiatus hernia in my medical career. I suppose that that it "slides" in and out of the hole in the diaphragm that it is unlikely to strangulate. As you quite rightly say, a para-oesophageal hernia (very uncommon) may rarely strangulate, because it is competing for space with the oesophagus.